BMW Super Bowl ad compares i3 with early Internet

“Newfangled Idea” begins in 1994 with two "Today" journalists, Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric trying to grasp the concept of email and the Internet. Then the spot jumps forward to 2015 where Gumbel and Couric are confused once more -- this time about the i3.

In BMW’s Super Bowl spot, the brand is casting its electric i3 hatchback as an ahead-of-its-time concoction that needs some explaining -- just like the Internet back in 1994.

BMW debuted the 60-second ad -- its first Super Bowl ad in four years -- on the U.S. broadcaster NBC’s news program “Today.” It will run during the first quarter.

“Newfangled Idea” begins in 1994 with baffled “Today” anchors Bryant Gumbel and Katie Couric trying to grasp the concept of email and the Internet. The flashback ends with Couric asking, “Can you explain what Internet is?”

Then the spot jumps forward to 2015 where Gumbel and Couric are confused once more -- this time about the i3.

“In 1994, people had not yet grasped what the Internet was, which is similar to how electric mobility is viewed today,” said Trudy Hardy, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America.

The spot has already been plastered across social media, including on the Twitter account of “Today,” which has more than 2 million followers.

On a side note, Couric admitted this morning on “Today” that she recently bought an Audi.

“When BMW offered me the chance to turn back the clock to 1994 and make fun of Bryant -- and myself -- I jumped at the opportunity,” Couric said in a statement. “The tape doesn’t lie, we weren’t exactly visionaries back then, but thankfully in 2015 we are much more adept @ recognizing game-changing, environmentally friendly innovations like the BMW i3.”